Seireitei was alive with movement.
Not the standard patrols or the murmuring bustle of division life, but something sharper, more charged. A current ran through the ranks of the Gotei 13, and at its center moved two shadows — Akira and Aizen — now under the eyes of the Captains.
From dawn until well past dusk, they were pushed from barracks to barracks, discipline to discipline. Their "promotion" into the accelerated program was less about reward and more about exposure. Dissection. Supervised brilliance.
Second Division – Hohō and Stealth Training
Captain Suì-Fēng said little when she first met them. Her gaze flicked to Aizen with mild interest, but it rested on Akira with wary precision.
"You move like lightning," she said, eyes narrowed, "but do you understand the silence between the steps?"
Akira grinned. "Define silence."
His system responded before he could.
[SYSTEM ALERT: Hohō Mastery 89% → 92%. New technique unlocked: VOID FLASH. Spatial displacement threshold reached. Processing dimensional acceleration modeling...]
In the blink of an eye, Akira vanished, reappearing behind Suì-Fēng.
The Captain turned only after he spoke.
"I counted three beats of your heart."
She frowned.
"...Interesting."
Aizen, by contrast, practiced methodically, pushing the edge of each step. He refined his flash step into multiple variations, testing angles, terrain responsiveness, even post-movement lag.
Eighth Division – Zanjutsu with Captain Kyoraku
"Now, now," Kyoraku Shunsui chuckled, straw hat tilted forward, "there's no need to swing so seriously, Akira-kun. We're just dancing."
Akira's blade moved like light split through glass. His strokes sliced through three practice dummies in a single arc.
[SYSTEM UPDATE: Zanjutsu Mastery 75% → 85%. New techniques synthesized: LIGHT SEVERANCE, SHADOW BLADE. Fragment Resonance improving. Bankai Compatibility: 36%... 39%...]
"You call this dancing?" Akira joked, though his eyes flicked to the notification window hovering in his vision.
Aizen, across the training field, sparred with Kyoraku himself. Unlike Akira, every step was earned. He was adapting to the erratic rhythm of the Captain's dual-sword style, using logic to anticipate feints.
But he couldn't land a blow.
And it showed.
Thirteenth Division – Kidō with Captain Ukitake
Akira raised his hand.
"Hadō #91: Senju Kōten Taihō."
No chant. No strain. Seventy-two golden energy cannons materialized and fired.
[Kidō Mastery 94%. High-tier Hadō accessed. Forbidden Bakudō eligible. Incantationless casting: Stable.]
Ukitake's calm eyes widened just slightly.
Aizen, nearby, recited a complex incantation for a much lower-level Kidō. He succeeded — beautifully. But compared to Akira's effortless command, it felt like painting a mural next to a lightning strike.
"You're both brilliant," Ukitake said softly. "But your paths are not the same."
Aizen bowed respectfully, eyes sharp. Internally, something in him coiled tighter.
Fourth Division Courtyard – Informal Observation
As the brothers rotated between Divisions, whispers grew louder.
"Did you see him cast a level 90 Hadō with no chant?"
"He reappeared behind Suì-Fēng like a damn shadow."
"And Aizen? I've seen him replicate techniques after watching them once."
But with praise came friction.
Lieutenants stiffened around them. Older Shinigami murmured behind closed doors. Some Captains observed from a distance, eyes narrowed, uncertain whether they were witnessing history or heresy.
Gin Ichimaru watched one sparring match from a nearby rooftop, his ever-present grin somehow wider.
"Dangerous little fireflies, aren't they?"
Tousen stood beside him, arms crossed. "Power given, not earned. I respect the younger Aizen. The other... I do not trust."
Yamamoto's Office
"They are progressing faster than any Shinigami in recorded history," Suì-Fēng reported.
"Akira's system of mastery is beyond classification," Ukitake added. "It's not just power. It's designed efficiency."
Yamamoto tapped his cane once.
"And the other?"
"Driven," Kyoraku said. "But... watching his brother's growth is pushing him in strange directions."
Yamamoto remained silent for a long while. Then:
"Let them continue. But double the observers. I want every fluctuation logged. Every anomaly analyzed."
Later – Deep in the Twelfth Division's Archive Wing
Aizen stood before a sealed vault door, hand resting on the edge of a barrier keyed to Captain-class spiritual pressure.
He reached into his sleeve and pulled a carefully folded slip of Kidō-infused paper, prepared after days of experimentation. He pressed it to the seal.
A soft glow. A whisper of broken locks.
The door slid open.
He stepped inside.
"Conventional training... will never be enough."
Scrolls lined the walls. Forbidden knowledge. Arcane research. Theories on soul engineering, Hollowfication, and artificial evolution.
His eyes glittered.
He would master more than technique. He would master the system itself.